State of the Nation: France

With the Six Nations done and dusted for another year, we look at the state of affairs in each of the competing nations. Next up, France.

Finally, some positivity is emanating from Les Bleus after a tournament which saw them beat England and run Ireland, Scotland and Wales incredibly close. While they only finished with two victories – the other coming against Italy – and ended the competition in fourth position, Jacques Brunel appears to have laid some solid foundations.

The defence was outstanding throughout, with their try-line only being breached six times, and the attack improved as the Six Nations went on. In the second half against England, they created a number of opportunities while in the final round, the visitors should have scored more than the solitary try.

Ultimately, that lack of cutting edge let them down, otherwise Brunel’s men could have been in the running for a shock championship. And when you consider their issues going into the tournament, with the head coach only appointed a month before the start of the tournament, it is startling that France were so competitive.

Their largest defeat was by just six points – when Scotland’s high tempo game eventually wore down the away side – while Ireland and Wales struggled to put them away. In fact, Joe Schmidt and Warren Gatland may count themselves fortunate to have escaped with wins over Les Bleus having arguably been second best for those encounters.

Nevertheless, the challenge for the fallen giants will be to build on this performance and it is something Philippe Saint-Andre and Guy Noves failed to master but, judging by the past two months, they appear better placed under Brunel than his predecessors. At least there is a semblance of continuity, a hint of organisation and team selections which generally appear balanced.

Brunel also handled the Edinburgh fiasco well, dropping eight players after a night out gone wrong, and duly introduced individuals who impressed in their absence. Marco Tauleigne, Paul Gabrillagues and Remy Grosso all look readymade for Test rugby, while some of the old guard impressed too. Mathieu Bastareaud, in particular, played with an energy and intensity that has been all too rare over the past few years.

There is still much to work on, though, and whether the French can be successful, despite the internal issues which still engulf the sport in the country, remains to be seen.

And then there’s the fly-half conundrum. That may be solved once Matthieu Jalibert returns but, following his injury, they were left with Lionel Beauxis and Francois Trinh-Duc at pivot, two players who have already proven that they are not good enough for Test rugby. This competition only confirmed that.

Unfortunately, any progress made and any confidence gleaned from this year’s Six Nations may well be significantly dented by the time the November series comes around. Double-defending world champions New Zealand await in June and it seems inevitable that a tired French outfit will receive a pummelling down in the southern hemisphere.

The Top 14 still dominates and, with the league not set to finish until a week before the first Test, it is terrible preparation for facing the number one side in the world.